In air conveyor systems for articles, the articles are commonly transported along the conveying line by jets of pressurized air. For articles with collars, such as bottles, the collars or the neck areas are used for transport. Various pressurized air systems for transporting articles have been attempted in previous designs.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,919 to Smith discloses several bottle conveyors which support bottles by the collar and which include apertures for directing pressurized air at a shoulder region of the bottles. Smith also discloses sloping neck guides to reduce friction with the collars/rings.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,284,370 to Danler et al. and 4,822,214 to Aidlin et al. disclose conveyor devices in which air is directed onto the necks of bottles from above the neck guides.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,889 to Langenbeck which discloses a neck guide air conveyor which includes apertures below the neck guides which direct air at an upward angle of approximately 45 degrees toward the underside of the collars. This design provides some lift to the bottles in an apparent attempt to reduce the friction between the collars and the neck guides.
The prior art conveyors do not disclose designs that are readily adaptable to effectively and efficiently transport articles with collars as well as articles without collars. Furthermore, these prior art conveyor designs are not readily adjustable for maximizing transport efficiency of various size and shape articles. These deficiencies are increasingly critical because it is becoming increasingly important that conveying lines and whole plants be easily and quickly adaptable to efficiently handle articles of various type, size, and shape.
What is desired therefore is an air conveyor design which can effectively and efficiently transport articles with collars as well as articles without collars. It is also desired to provide an air conveyor which is readily adaptable to different types and sizes of articles for meeting the rapid changeover requirements of conveying lines and plants while transporting articles at maximum efficiency. It is further desired to provide an air conveyor which is readily adaptable to allow for either a separation between the articles during conveyance or a contiguous article flow.